SEREMBAN: Eleven men were each fined 3,000 Malaysian ringgit by the Magistrate’s Court after pleading guilty to charges involving non-existent loans.
The accused, aged between 19 and 41, entered their pleas after the charges were read separately before Magistrate Nurul Saqinah Rosli.
Seven individuals were charged with conspiring to offer non-existent loans and inducing others to hand over money at a café on 26 August.
Four other men faced a similar charge at a different premises on the same date for the same offence.
All were charged under Section 120B(2) read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code.
Magistrate Nurul Saqinah also ordered the accused to serve six months in jail if they failed to pay the fine.
She further directed that all exhibits be handed over to the prosecution for case proceedings.
Deputy public prosecutor P. Rubini had requested the court to impose the maximum fine on all accused to serve as a lesson.
Lawyer Erickka Farrise, representing all the accused, appealed for the minimum fine citing their first offence status.
She argued that the 12-day remand period had already served as a sufficient lesson for the defendants. – Bernama